25 and learning

A year-end look at growing up online, offline, and figuring out life at 25 in 2025

- Saachi Shinde

Timelines are filled with promotions, engagements, relocations, glow-ups, and online flexes. Life, it seems, is constantly up for public review. We are at the end of a year.

Being born in 2000 means growing up mid-transition. I remember sharing a family computer and also watching smartphones quietly take over our lives. I grew up being told I had “time,” only to wake up one day and realise time had already sped up.

For Gen Z, turning 25 doesn't feel like adulthood arriving. It feels like adulthood tapping you on the shoulder and saying, 'You're already in it.'

Adulthood didn’t announce itself on my birthday. It crept in through responsibilities, bills, difficult conversations, disappointments, and the realisation that no one is coming to hand you clarity. The past few years have unfolded alongside digital exhaustion, global crises, and constant pressure to be visible, productive, and progressing. Reflection, at this age, feels less optional and more necessary.

From growing up online to learning offline, here are 25 lessons my first 25 years taught me:

Life is rarely linear: Detours aren't failures; they're where most growth happens.

Consistency matters more than motivation: Discipline quietly outlasts inspiration.

Adulthood arrives without an announcement: It shows up in responsibility, not age.

Comparison peaks at year-end: Social media shows highlights, not hesitation.

Mental health is nonnegotiable: Burnout isn’t ambition, and rest isn’t optional.